In this paper, we analyse the trajectory of the French testing policy in education since 1973. Regarding its statistical tradition and its ability to produce its own evaluation tool, France may be regarded as an interesting case to interrogate the capacity of national educational systems to meet international standards of testing. Anchored in a…

This paper traces the complexities, contingencies and tensions involved in the creation of a new, 'scientific' assessment in what we call Prefecture A in Japan. We start with a thick, granular description of the complicated and ongoing narrative of a new policy emergence. This descriptive account serves as a precursor to our application of an…

Research to date about the English government's policy to make schools independent of local authorities (LAs) has looked at the "macro" level of national policy and at the "micro" level of the institution. The study of which this article is a part, explores changes at the "meso" level--the locality. The article…

Recent reforms in England's education system have been justified on the grounds that other countries have pursued similar approaches to education reform. Many such policies that by-pass or otherwise diminish meso-level institutions demonstrate a commitment to the idea of devolving authority to local actors. The current reforms in England and…

As Sweden drew nearer to the 2006 national election, two themes emerged in the educational debate: a concern for order and discipline in schools, and the ambition to raise educational levels of achievement. The objective of this article is to locate these two themes within a broader framework of understanding by: 1) discussing examples of how the…

Out-of-school time programs provide intervention and prevention services to young people who are deemed "at-risk" with the goal of improving their social, emotional, and academic development. However, research indicates that children and youth who are most "at-risk" are less likely to participate in out-of-school time programs, and do so less…

By the time youngsters reach high school in the United States, the achievement gap is immense. Some remarkable inner-city schools, however, are showing that the achievement gap can be closed, even at the middle and high school level, if poor minority kids are given the right kind of instruction. In this article, the author features six schools…

Site-based management (SBM) is an increasingly popular approach to school restructuring. SBM aims to transfer authority from state agencies and school districts to committees based at schools. To garner a consensus supporting reform, these committees are to be representative of educational and community members. SBM plans are characterized by: (1)…

Based on a survey of superintendents from 100 of the nation's largest urban and ex-urban districts and on interviews with 40 large-district superintendents, this study finds that a majority of urban school superintendents believe that their ability to implement reform in order to raise academic achievement is frustrated by district governance. The…